VZCZCXRO4959
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHDK #0364 0861157
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261157Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0246
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS DAKAR 000364 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, PRM AND INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PREF SG
SUBJECT: Ambassador Swing Meets OIC Members 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: During a two-day visit to Senegal to promote his 
candidacy for the position of director-general of the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) on the margins of the Organization 
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Summit in Dakar, Ambassador William 
¶L. Swing met with key member countries.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Following a personal invitation to come to Dakar by 
Senegalese Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Ambassador Swing 
held a series of successful bilateral meetings where countries 
pledged their support for his candidacy.  By both underlining the 
fact that the current Amcit incumbent, who is running for an 
unprecedented third term, does not have the support of his own 
government and has reneged on his pledge to step down after having 
served two terms, Ambassador Swing built a strong case for his 
candidacy based on his years of experience as both a six-time 
ambassador and most recently as head of a United Nations mission in 
the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he managed over 22,000 
people and a budget of USD 1.2 Billion. 
 
Pledge of Support 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Senegal's Foreign Minister not only said that his country 
would support Ambassador Swing, he added that he would make calls on 
Swing's behalf if necessary.  The Foreign Minister of Guinea-Bissau, 
Maria de Conceicao Nobre Cabral, also pledged her support saying 
that she would send the Bissau-Guinean Ambassador in Brussels to 
attend the June 18 vote in Geneva.  Ambassador Swing also met with 
delegations from the Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Mozambique, 
Sierra Leone, and Cote D'Ivoire's Ambassador to Senegal. 
SMITH